Jimmy Cliff, Reggae Music and Jamaican Cultural Icon, Dies at 81

Reggae Music Icon Jimmy Cliff, a unique tone, lyricism and lyrical role on the silver screen that helped make his ramaica music famous worldwide, has died at the age of 81, his family said in a statement on Monday on social media.

“It is with great sadness that I share, my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has passed away due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,” Latifa said in a statement posted on Cliff’s account. “Thank you for his family, friends, fellow musicians and collaborators who shared the journey with him. To all his fans around the world, please take your wishes.”

The couple’s children Lilty and Aken also signed the statement.

Cliff was one of the Jamaican international stars of the world, emerging as reggae emerged from the SKA and RockSteady sectors in the 1960s and early 1970s. His spectacular role in the enduring movie “The Herver Beza,” a completely Jamaican production, in 1972 ended his legacy not only as a singer, but as a cultural figure.

Cliff played Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin, an aspiring musician who rose to face the harsh realities of the music business run by self-proclaimed producers, by shedding the trappings of musicians, and the many traps of Jamaicans trying to survive amid the rampant gang crime.

“Ivanhoe was a true Jamaican character,” Cliff told Variety magazine in an interview in 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release. “When I was a little boy, I used to hear about him as a bad guy. A real bad guy. Nobody in Jamaica, at that time, had a gun. But then, he had a hero to be feared. [director] The left [Henzel] It wanted to make his name – an anti-hero in the way that Hollywood turns its bad boys into villains. ”

The messages in the movie, just like its music, are timeless.

The title track from “The Herter Beza,” and familiar hits include “many rivers to cross” and “you can get it if you really want it, but they really got it, but they’ve continued to warm themselves to audiences around the world since they wrote it.”

Cliff, and other icons like Bob Marley and Toots hibbert We helped give the music and culture of their small Caribbean nation a worldwide impact that endures today, and exceeds Jamaica’s size in terms of population.

His Oninage Onestage presence and high tone are unshakeable. Cliff released his last single, “Human Touch,” only four years ago. According to the press release, Cliff was nominated for Grammy Awards seven times and won twice, taking the best album in 1986 with “Cliff Hanger,” and in 2012 with “Rebirth.”

In Trojekh presented on his social media accounts before Monday morning, the Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness called Cliff “a true source of music that carries the heart of our nation to the world.”

“Jimmy Cliff told our story with honesty and soul,” Holness said. “His music lifted people in difficult times, inspired generations, and helped shape the worldwide respect that Jamaican culture enjoys today. We wake up well, your legacy lives on in every corner of the island on our island and in the hearts of the Jamaican people.”